Wintry Storm Delays Flights in Washington, Atlanta

By Brian K. Sullivan -
Dec 16, 2010

A wintry storm stretching over parts
of the central and southern U.S. delayed flights in Washington,
Philadelphia and Atlanta and may leave 1 to 3 inches of snow on
the nation’s capital while bypassing the Northeast.

The system prompted storm warnings and advisories from
southern New Jersey to South Carolina, the National Weather
Service said.

“This system will have a real tough time getting into
Philadelphia and I doubt it will get to New York and Boston,”
said Tom Kines, a meteorologist with commercial forecaster
AccuWeather Inc. in State College, Pennsylvania.

A second system that is expected to move east over the
weekend has a better chance of bringing snow to the Northeast,
including New York and Boston, he said.

Natural gas for January delivery, which had been declining
on forecasts for milder temperatures later this month, fell 17.4
cents, or 4.1 percent, to settle at $4.048 per million British
thermal units after the Energy Department reported stockpiles
dropped last week. About 52 percent of U.S. households use
natural gas for heat.

Washington’s Reagan National Airport reported delays of
about 50 minutes, according to the Federal Aviation
Administration’s website. Some flights to Washington Dulles were
held by the snow and ice, the FAA said.

Cloud Cover

Hartsfield International Airport in Atlanta, where rain
fell, reported waits of about 20 minutes because of heavy cloud
cover, and overcast skies caused delays of about 90 minutes in
Philadelphia.

Federal government offices remained open, although workers
were given the option of leaving early or working from home,
according to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management website.

According to a Weather Service snowfall map, about 2.5
inches of snow fell in western Maryland and Virginia. Less than
an inch was recorded for metropolitan Washington as of 1:21 p.m.

In West Virginia, Governor Earl Ray Tomblin asked state
offices to close at 3 p.m., according to a statement. As much as
6 inches of snow has fallen across that state, according to John
Victory, a Weather Service meteorologist.

Chicago Snow

Another storm is over Chicago and may make the commute home
there a mess today, Kines said. There is a chance about an inch
of snow will fall late this afternoon, as many workers are
leaving for the day.

He said Boston stands the best chance of being hit by snow
over the weekend.

“I don’t think the verdict is in yet on this system, so we
just have to keep an eye on it,” Kines said by telephone.
“Boston has the most to worry about because it is farther east
than everybody else.”

He also said the West Coast will be struck by a series of
storms beginning tomorrow that will bring rain to central
California and snow to the Sierra Nevada mountains.